I know I said longer chapters, but I'm on "vacation" and haven't had as much time to write. I did want to get something up though, so here it is. Reviews REALLY motivate me to write more and faster, so feel free to leave some! thanks for reading and I hope you like! Some talking feels this chapter :)

The next couple of days they were contained to the castle due to bad weather, making all of them thankful that Regina had found yeast and flour to make bread, and had killed such a large animal for their food. Their supply was dwindling, though, and Regina found that someone would have to go hunting and gathering the next day, probably after morning. They had been in the Enchanted Forest for six days at that point. The group was sitting around eating their dinner on that sixth night, discussing options for how to get out of the forest and back to their homes.

"Are there any beans?" David asked.

"What… like beanstalk beans?" Regina asked.

"Yeah."

"You've not heard this story?"

"No."

"Your lovely brother destroyed them all. James and Jack destroyed them and all the giants, all but one giant, anyway. James was such a dear person."

"Like you can talk about killing."

"I never wiped out an entire species."

"No, just entire villages!"

"They were committing treason against their Queen!"

"By not giving up their Princess!" David yelled back at her. The pair had been doing this several times over their days locked up in the castle together. They would scream and yell at each other about the stupidest and silliest arguments, things that didn't even matter to their lives, and then David would apologize, Regina would accept (but never would apologize in return) and they would moved on, telling each other stories for entertainment.

Regina growled and left the table, heading to her bedchambers for the evening. David stood up and looked at Aurora and Mulan.

"I apologize for our constant arguments. We are used to being enemies… and trying to get along is… well, difficult to say the least," David said, standing up and putting his and Regina's dishes into the sink. "You can leave the dishes for tonight since Regina didn't fill the sink. I'll have her do that later and I'll clean up. You two have a good night."

After David left the kitchen, Aurora looked at Mulan.

"Why do you think they really argue so much?"

"I think that… I believe they are starting to enjoy each other's company, but they are supposed to be sworn enemies. That's a large barrier to cross."

"Perhaps. I think they like each other," Aurora said.

"I do not agree with you," Mulan answered with a shrug.

David walked up to his chambers, opening the door and walking inside. He stood there a minute before groaning and turning back out of his room. Walking the short distance to Regina's door, he knocked.

"Come in," she called, knowing who it was. David pushed open the door, closing it behind him. She was sitting on a chaise lounge by the fireplace in her room. There was wood burning in the small space and Regina was watching the fire. Walking over to her, David sat on a large cushioned bench across a small coffee table from her.

"I… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought up your past. James and I had nothing to do with each other and I shouldn't have attacked you in defense of him."

"It's not your fault. I was a terrible person."

"You were a misguided person," he argued, standing up and moving to sit next to her on the lounge.

"Why do you find the need to defend me? To yourself, nonetheless?"

"Because, maybe you haven't really opened up much to me, not yet anyway, but you will. And even if you don't, you have still shown me kindness since we've been here, and I can't understand why, but I would like to know." She nodded and offered him a small smile. He patted her shoulder and stood up to leave. When he got to the door, Regina spoke again.

"David?" He turned to look at her. She was wearing a light blue nightgown, one that flowed around her curves and came to just above her knees. It had thin straps and a sweetheart neckline. He enjoyed the soft flush her skin had from sitting close to the fire, though he scolded himself for that thought.

"What can I do for you?" he asked gently.

"Would you like me to tell you one of my stories? I don't want to be alone right now… and I was thinking I could trade you a story for your company?"

"I would love to hear one of your stories, but if you aren't ready to tell them, I am fine with keeping you company free of charge," he answered, winking at her.

"Come, sit." She patted the spot next to her, giving him the ok to join her back on the lounge. "I have one stipulation to you getting a story from me, though."

"What's that?"

"You have to tell me a story."

"Any story?"

"Sure. Tell me… one of the bravest things you have done."

"Alright. But… you tell me something first. Tell me why you hate the Blue Fairy."

"When I was a child, right from when I was three or four, my mother would use magic to discipline me. If I didn't obey, or I was clumsy, if I forgot something or didn't act like a lady, she would punish me. Often times she would hang me in the air with magic, just hanging there. She'd wrap me up with straps or vines or branches. Whatever she had nearby, I guess. My father, I loved him and I do know he loved me, but he was afraid of her. He wouldn't stop her from hurting me. So every night I cried, right from the first time all the way until I gave up before I met Daniel, I begged for a fairy to grant my wish. My only wish was to be given a mother who would love me. To be given a mother who wouldn't look at me constantly like a disappointment. But no fairy ever came. It was… I didn't understand what I had ever done to deserve that. And as Blue is the head of the fairies… I've always hated her because of it."

"Regina… I—" David started, but he was stopped when Regina raised her hand, palm facing him.

"Please, David, don't. There's nothing to be done about it now. Just tell me your story."

"Well then, do you know the legend of how Lake Nostos dried up?"

Regina shook her head. "No, just that it was a prince," she paused to look at him. "Surely not you?"

"I fell in love with Snow after I was betrothed to Abigail. But she had a True Love, too, whom Midas had turned to gold. I never really got the story on whether it was on purpose or not, but that doesn't really matter. When I escaped to avoid Abigail, she found me, but was willing to let me leave. When I asked her why, she told me of her Frederick. But he was turned to gold and her kiss couldn't undo the curse because the gold was in the way.

"She said that the water from one Lake Nostos could return something to its original, un-cursed state. I said I would get the water, we could break the curse from Frederick, and she would marry him, leaving me free to marry Snow. When I went to the lake, there was a Siren. She took the form of Snow, sexier than I had ever seen Snow, because… well, you know how she is." Regina and David chuckled slightly at the joke before he continued. "So, she seduced me, but I stopped her, and I killed her, taking some water and leaving. But without its inhabitant, the Siren, the lake dried up."

"It was you. Wow." Regina stared at David for a moment, thinking before she stood up quickly and paced the room. "David! That's it! We need to use Lake Nostos! Your stupid wardrobe! We can take it back home if we return the magical properties to it with the water from the lake!"

"There are two problems with that. First, there is no water in the lake. Second, the wardrobe could only carry one!"

"That's not true, David. All enchanted trees had enough magic to carry two or more. It's not possible that it could only carry one. There was a boy that was sent through the wardrobe before Emma."

"No… Blue wouldn't lie to us!"

"David, I'm telling you, she is not trustworthy."

"Regina… please, swear to me. Swear to me on everything you love that you aren't lying to me." Regina stopped pacing and walked up in front of him, taking his hands into hers and pulling him to stand up. One they were both standing, Regina tilted her head back to look into his piercing blue eyes.

"David, I swear on everything that I love, I am not lying to you. It can carry two, it can carry both of us, and it could have carried Snow and Emma, instead of just Emma." The look in David's eyes was so pained that it reminded Regina of how much pain she felt when Henry told her Emma was his real mom. It was the look of someone who just realized that they had lost their child when they hadn't really needed to. "I'm sorry, David. I wish I could tell you it wasn't true."

He nodded, realizing she was still holding his hands. Pulling his away from her dainty fingers, he scratched the back of his head.

"Alright. So, when do you want to leave?"

"Leave?"

"To go to Lake Nostos?"

"Well, I really think we should go to your castle first. We need to see if the wardrobe is even still there before we make a trip to the lake to get the water."

"Oh, yeah. The water, how are you going to make that work?"

"Magic. There's always more water underneath the soil, right? In this case it will be underneath the sand."

"You really think that will work?" he asked. He was ecstatic. He couldn't wait to get back home. Being here… being away from his family was too hard. It was too much and he wasn't going to be able to last much longer if he was.

"I'm not one hundred percent certain, but pretty close, I'd say eighty-five," Regina added, excitedly. Unable to contain his pleasure, David reached for Regina and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her off the ground and spinning her. She chuckled lightly, loosely hanging her arms over his shoulders just before he set her down.

"Sorry…" he whispered, once she was on her feet, though neither had pulled away.

"That's fine. You're excited, I understand. You get to go home to… Snow and Emma."

"And now you can go home to Henry."

"David, I don't know."

"Please? Henry needs you. You've raised him his entire life." Regina used the opportunity to remove her arms from him and turn away.

"He may need me, but he doesn't want me and there is no arguing that. If I come back I'll just be heartbroken all over. He won't want me and then I'll return to having nothing, David."

"Regina, that's not true. He will want you. And… you'll have me. We're kind of friends now, right? I'd like you to be there."

"You're pretty confident that your friendship is worth my misery."

"No," he argued with a wry grin. "Just confident that my friendship and Henry's love will be enough to make you happy." Walking closer to her back, David had to fight the urge to wrap her in his arms and pull her against him.

"Perhaps," she answered in a low voice.

"So… when do we head out?"

"We'll leave in the morning. We'll need to see if we can find any horses anywhere. It will be a long journey, otherwise."

"Two days walk?"

"That's likely, possibly three if we run into any obstacles."

"Hey Regina," David hesitated, tapping her on the side of her waist to make her turn back to him, and when she did she pointedly glared at his hand. "Do you think I can have a bow and some arrows for this journey? Mulan mentioned that the ogres are back and I can't really kill them with a sword."

Regina nodded and told him that in the morning she would take him to her weapons room.

The next morning, Regina woke before anyone else. She took to the kitchen, cleaning the dishes from the night before and preparing a small breakfast for them. After everyone had eaten and Regina told Mulan and Aurora that they would need to head out to David's former castle, the other two women went upstairs and packed their supplies.

Regina took David to the castle's weapon room. She smiled as his mouth gaped open, taking in all of the swords and various other weapons. Regina walked to the wall and took one of her own daggers, a personal favorite and slid it into her boot, putting the one she received from Lancelot onto the new empty spot on the wall. She grabbed a nicer bow and a sturdier quiver for herself. David walked to the wall and found a bow that would suit him well, picking a leather quiver filled with arrows.

"You can grab a different sword as well, if you'd like. The ones in here are much… nicer than the one you borrowed."

"Really?" David asked excitedly.

"Yes. Help yourself." Grabbing a sword with a gold hilt and purple gemstones embedded into either side, David pulled it from its sheath to glance it over.

"This is… a really nice sword. Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Consider it yours." David returned her small smile with a nod and the pair headed up to their bedchambers. "We'll meet out here in fifteen minutes. Gather some extra clothing. Did you find an extra satchel?"

"I did."

"Good. It'll be cold at night. We've had comfort in my castle, but do not let that deceive you into forgetting how cold it gets here at night."

"Eh, it's summer, it can't be too bad."

Regina shrugged. "Suit yourself. But I have packed two sets of supplies, bowls silverware, blankets and a pillow for us each. We should be able to make shelter this time when we rest."

"Thank you, Regina. I know that you could choose to neglect helping me, or you could make this journey as difficult as possible on me. But you're being amazing and I can't quite tell you how much I appreciate that."

"Of course," she answered. "I'll see you out here in a little bit."

She changed into black riding pants, charcoal gray riding boots, a white shirt, leaving the top several buttons undone, and a dark purple and black riding coat. It came to the back of her ankles with a slit in the middle of the back all the way up to her thighs so she could ride a horse easily if they were to find any. Using her magic, she set her hair in a style that held it off her face, and looked reminiscent of her Evil Queen days. She fit replacement underwear and two fresh shirts into the satchel she had taken from Graham's room their first day at the castle, and sighed. They intended to come back here, but she didn't know that it would be soon, or really if it would even be possible.

After hours of travelling, the group stopped to take a break in a small enclosure of trees just off of a large field that they had to cross. Mulan informed them before they arrived at the edge that the area they were in was heavily plagued by ogres and that they would need to be ready to kill when they crossed. David unhooked his canteen from his hip and took a heavy sip, offering it to Regina when he was done. Mulan and Aurora shared the warrior's and the group relaxed quietly for several long moments.

"So the ogres… they have destroyed all of the lands?" David asked.

"We don't know, but all of the lands that we have travelled, yes," Mulan answered.

"They've just been roaming the lands the whole time, destroying everything?"

"Yes. That's how it seems."

"Okay then, let's prepare ourselves for battle," David stated, pushing himself off the ground to stand. Reaching down, he offered a hand to Regina in assistance, which she took hesitantly. Turning to offer the same to the other women, he saw them already standing. Just about to draw their bows, Regina and David looked up at the feeling of the ground shaking.